After a hard fought and tense game Friday night in Trail, the Smoke Eaters head to West Kelowna looking to end their preseason on a high [...]

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Smoke Eaters look to turn things around in the back half of the weekend doubleheader

September 14, 2019

TRAIL SMOKE EATERS GAME NIGHT REPORT

After a hard fought loss Friday night the Smoke Eaters are back at Cominco looking to turn their 0-3 start around and get their first win of the season.

The Smokies dropped their third consecutive game to open the season with a 4-2 loss to the visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks as Daniel Rybarik would get the game winning goal halfway through the third to seal the victory for the Backs.

The Smoke Eaters will look to regroup and correct a few things before tonight’s game. They threw a lot of rubber at the Silverbacks netminder last night and had many opportunities to tie or win the game before the Silverbacks got their winner. Owen Ozar, who as Jeff Tambelini said before Friday’s game has been the Smokies “best player by a mile”, continued to have a strong game on Friday despite the loss. Liam Freeborn also had a very lively game getting his first as a Smoke Eater and in the BCHL and the youngster Colby Elmer was also very noticeable throughout the game.

The Smoke Eaters will try and avoid going 0-4 to start the year but with a few injuries it will be hard for the coaching staff to give a different look tonight. It will be more about how they execute their game plan that will make the difference if the Smoke Eaters want to get a win.

For the Silverbacks they’ll look to start keep their strong start to the season going with a third straight win to open the year. They have a penalty kill that sits at 100% through two games and a power play that is at 28% after going 1/2 last night. Strong goaltending by Langenegger was also the difference for the Backs, as the Lake Superior commit showed well stopping 29/31 for the win. William Poirier who played 250 games in the QMJHL was a bright spot for the Backs getting his first two goals of the year.

Puck drop is at 7pm at Cominco Arena. Tickets are $14 for adults, $5 for youth and kids 12 and under get in free. You can also catch the game on HockeyTV or Mixlr with Ben Phillips and Rob Squires starting at 6:50pm.